Essence of Human Government

The will and ability to use force is what makes government.
Here is wisdom: Mankind is fallen. Whether it be the appetites of the flesh, the curiosity of the mind, or the arrogance of human reason, mankind is always eager to take the least painful path to sating their lusts. With extensive conditioning over several generations, you can curtail certain possibilities in terms of means to acquisition in their minds, but you cannot remove the underlying sinful demands. Human reason is insufficient to determine good or evil, but reason itself rejects that truth. In the aggregate, humanity will always turn to evil, even when it’s been organized and institutionalized as “civilization.”
Very early in the game of time, the Lord demanded humanity get a clue. Though in a fallen state, utterly incapable of doing it well, He required humanity form governing authorities. His idea was that parents should restrain their children, and build out from there, because fallen human instinct was to let them run wild. But in order to inculcate this bare minimum of social order, it was necessary to wipe out everyone except a precious few who were willing to hear His command. Yes, we understand those precious few still struggled with the minimum requirement to “honor thy father and mother” (witness Ham raping his own father when Noah was drunk), but the impulse to restrain one’s own children was firmly implanted. It wasn’t that women needed such instruction, but men, who don’t have that instinct and are inherently lazy about exercising power which doesn’t meet their immediate personal needs.
Yes, the story is loaded with complications. But I’m not writing a book here.
Fundamental to the image provided in Scripture is restraining sexual appetites, as the lack of that restraint is the single most destructive factor in social stability. If mankind could not at least make a stab at it, God warned He would refuse to make nature follow any particular recognizable patterns, either. Again, these are symbols of a much bigger problem in both directions. It’s not that women can’t govern, but that God never intended they do it alone. The particular balance in Hebrew culture gave women more leverage than any previous culture, while still harnessing the power of manhood to make things happen. Sex has a very holy purpose, and if you don’t keep it on track, it will destroy everything. Lack of sexual restraint is the single strongest indicator of flouting God’s Laws, and the single most significant precursor of His wrath.
Fundamental to the very concept of “civilization” is sexual restraint, maintained by the force of violence. The very most fundamental concept of ownership is ownership of sexual license. Sexual intimacy in all its civilized glory is the single greatest hint mankind has about the need for spiritual intimacy with God, something which is by default broken. A really good marriage teaches us about the possibility of spiritual peace with God. Mess up the earthly image of that peace and mankind has no hope of spiritual redemption. This is why it matters for us. Fundamental to the Fall is the sense of isolation and alienation from God, and thus all Creation. Nothing on this plane of existence bridges the gap of alienation like loving sexual union. No experience on this earth is better than a rich, stable marriage, which means husband and wife both sharing ownership of each other in terms of sexual license.
The protection of that is backed up with the threat of force. Wives are protected by husbands, and by extension, his brothers and other kin. Unmarried daughters are protected in their virginity. It’s sacred; the concept of “holy” means set apart for the exclusive access of one person. When no one values these things, you have no civilization, no sense of righteousness or holiness. Nothing matters beyond instant gratification. Then, any government is reduced to the whim of the powerful. That this is but one step away from a good orderly patriarchy is one those paradoxes with which we must live. It should be obvious by now I’ve castigated the whole of Western civilization, at least in its current late manifestation, as loaded with violent opposition to God’s Laws. All our violent government force is aimed at evil things, largely because the single viable restraint has been removed — the shepherd’s instinct.
The very nature of Western Civilization is a hateful opposition to the shepherd image of government. Among modern nations, America has raised this hostility to a fine art. It is a criminal operation through and through. Don’t we just shine?